by Doug Drynan, Vice President of Carrizo Plain Conservancy All photos by Doug Drynan As mentioned in my previous blog post from a December 3rd Carrizo Plain visit (Tule Elk on the Carrizo Plain) I explored several areas of Carrizo Plain National Monument (CPNM) that...

by Doug Drynan, Vice President of Carrizo Plain Conservancy *Note: Article originally appeared in Carrizo Plain Conservancy's Dec 2022 newsletter All photos by Doug Drynan It’s that time of year when the Carrizo Plain gets crowded.  But not because of the wildflower...

by Doug Drynan, Vice President of Carrizo Plain Conservancy All photos by Doug Drynan In early December, I was on one of my random trips out to the Carrizo Plain, ostensibly to check on some areas that were burned during the Madre fire in July, but mostly the trip was...

How things can change in the matter of a day or two! On July 2, 2025, a fire of unknown origin began along Highway 166 in the Cuyama Valley. Pushed by strong winds, it spread quickly to the north and northeast. Within a day, it had burned much of the State of...

Well folks, we did get some rain in the Carrizo recently, but it’s still looking dry out there.  Our Carrizo correspondent Pat Veesart reports that the seasonal total so far is only three inches at the most.  A brief tour on February 19 showed very little...

by Doug Drynan, Vice President of Carrizo Plain Conservancy It was a glorious fall day out in the Carrizo in mid-November as I made my way over to the Goodwin Ranch House to meet up with Bill and Camdilla. Bill Buck is our Conservation Coordinator and Camdilla Wirth...

The 2024 Carrizo Colloquium was a full day of engaging speakers and in-depth panel presentations by Carrizo Plain experts. The event culminated with a 10th anniversary celebration for the Carrizo Plain Conservancy. Learn more at...

My biological consulting work often takes me to the south San Joaquin valley, and when I return home via westbound Highway 166, I often decide to take a longer route through the heart of the Carrizo Plain National Monument. On the date of this post I decided to travel...

Spring 2023 Carrizo lupine bloom by Jane Wei. The Carrizo Plain Conservancy was incorporated under the laws of the State of California in October 2013.  In July 2014, we received our Recognition of Status as a Charitable Nonprofit corporation from the...

What a spring we had on the Carrizo Plain! Some say it was the best bloom in recent memory with more of the Plain blanketed in wildflowers than in a long while. The US BLM alone estimates there were 85,000 visitors in March and April to the Carrizo Plain National...